This invention relates generally to the field of waste receptacle devices, and more particularly to the field of waste receptacle devices designed to receive cigarette butts, and even more particularly to such devices that are freestanding and primarily intended for placement outdoors.
Butt receptacle devices, also known as smokers' urns, have become very common as laws forbidding smoking within buildings have proliferated. The laws have resulted in the creation of designated smoking areas. Because cigarettes cannot be brought into buildings, accumulations of discarded butts at entrances and in the designated smoking areas quickly became a problem. To address this, butt receptacle devices are placed at the entrances and in the designated smoking areas. These devices share several common structural features in order to accomplish the primary function of the device—receiving, storing and snuffing large quantities of smoldering cigarette butts for later disposal. These common features consist of an open-topped butt-retaining container composed of a non-flammable and durable material, typically a metal bucket or can, a base to receive the container, and a relatively narrow, elongated, vertically-oriented receiving tube or chute, the receiving tube being provided with one or more small openings for insertion of the cigarette butts. The butt receiving openings are most preferably provided with a cap, cover, overhang or similar structural feature to preclude or limit entry of rain into the tube, or alternatively the butt receiving openings may be simply positioned on the vertical sides of the tube. In typical butt receptacle devices, the tube flares out at the bottom in a manner that allows it to mate with the base in a removable manner, such that the tube may be removed from the base in order to access the butt container for disposal of the butts.
The narrow receiving tube serves two purposes. The first purpose is to direct the falling cigarette butts into the open-topped container. The second purpose is to limit and restrict airflow into and out of the device such that any smoke or odor emanating from the smoldering butts is retained within the device and further such that the amount of oxygen within the device remains limited in order to more quickly snuff out the smoldering butts.
Most cigarette butt receptacle devices in production today are aesthetically limited, with the most common units consisting of a circular-in-cross-section base encasing the container bucket and a co-axially oriented, vertical, linear receiving tube disposed atop the base. Simple design elements, such as ridges or channels, are sometimes disposed either annularly or vertically on the base and tube in a weak attempt to better the visual appearance. These simple design elements do little to disguise or reduce the presence of the butt receptacles in the visual landscape, as the devices are readily identifiable. Given that the butt receptacles are usually disposed at exterior entryways into buildings, this common structure is the equivalent of placing garbage cans at the primary points of entry.
It is an object of this invention to provide cigarette butt receptacles of a structure and design that eliminates or at least dramatically reduces the aesthetic drawbacks of the typical structures by providing structure that presents less obtrusive visual impressions. It is a further object to provide cigarette butt receptacles wherein the functionality remains but is contained within external or additional structural components in order to alter the visual impression of the device, allowing the visual impressions to be readily changed if desired. It is further object to provide such devices where the additional structural components comprise for example exterior housings for the receiving tube or cap elements for the top of the tube. It is a further object to provide such devices wherein the additional structure comprises interchangeable elements such that a given butt receptacle device may have multiple appearances, and wherein particular messages may be conveyed to the public. It is a further object to provide such devices wherein the receiving tube or chute of the device is non-linear, such that it is curved or comprises angled segments, such that the upper portion of the tube does not need to be coaxially aligned with the butt receptacle, thereby allowing greater variety of engineering design. These objects, as well as objects not expressly set forth but which will become apparent upon examination of the disclosure to follow, are set forth expressly or implicitly below in detailed description.